The Almost Moon (Paperback)

~ (Author) "When all is said and done, killing my mother came easily..." (more)
Key Phrases: almost moon, sick bowl, meat freezer, Alice Sebold, The Almost Moon, Detective Broumas (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

A woman steps over the line into the unthinkable in this brilliant, powerful, and unforgettable new novel by the author of The Lovely Bones and Lucky.


For years Helen Knightly has given her life to others: to her haunted mother, to her enigmatic father, to her husband and now grown children. When she finally crosses a terrible boundary, her life comes rushing in at her in a way she never could have imagined. Unfolding over the next twenty-four hours, this searing, fast-paced novel explores the complex ties between mothers and daughters, wives and lovers, the meaning of devotion, and the line between love and hate. It is a challenging, moving, gripping story, written with the fluidity and strength of voice that only Alice Sebold can bring to the page.

About the Author

Alice Sebold is the bestselling author of The Lovely Bones, a novel, and Lucky, a memoir. She lives in California with her husband, the novelist Glen David Gold.

Product Details

• Paperback: 291 pages
• Publisher: Back Bay Books; Reprint edition (September 8, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0316067369
• ISBN-13: 978-0316067362
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (30 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #5,985 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Realistic and well written, December 30, 2008

By	Helen Simpson (Leeds, England) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I actually found this quite a gripping book, which after reading the reviews on here, I wasn't expecting.

The story is told in the first person, by 50 year old Helen who is worn down and tired from looking after her elderly mother. I'm not giving anything away by saying that she kills her mother and then over the course of the book we learn more about Helen, her parents and childhood, and her life now. I've not had to deal with any of the issues in the book myself, but I could empathise with the main character, her feelings seemed understandable and even normal in a depressed kind of way. I could imagine the awfulness of looking after someone with dementia. She still had humour...albeit very black - but it appealed to me.

I found myself liking the child Helen more than the adult Helen but this was probably intentional on Sebolds part, and made understanding the adult she became a little easier. As her life opens up to the reader we discover more about her parents and her neighbours and their impact on her. In parts I was reminded of 'To Kill A Mockingbird', the ignorance and the insight of various characters.

I did find myself understanding Helen more as the book went along...but not always. She liked one of her daughters more than the other which I found hard to relate to, and she had an obsession with dismemberment which was a bit disturbing. Bearing in mind that I haven't experienced mental illness, I did accept the wanderings of her mind to be pretty realistic.
Although it's a work of fiction, I really felt it illustrates how much parents, upbringing and experiences influence a child and who they grow up to be.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Depressing and boring, November 30, 2008

By	J. Thomas - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Although not a lover of The Lovely Bones, I read The Almost Moon because it was recommended as a "favorite paperback" at the book store. Mistake. It is dark and nonsensical. The best thing I can say about the author's work is that she does a good job of describing the protagonist's physical characteristics. If this is a "#1 National Bestseller," it is only because readers were expecting something better from Alice Sebold. Do not waste your money.

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Agonizingly tedious, March 1, 2009

By	S. O'Connor "SJO" (USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is a tedious book about a completely unsympathetic group of people, from the main character on through just about everyone else in the book. A couple very minor characters are tolerable, and the neighborhood stray cat, who appears very briefly, is the only bright spot in a very plodding, detail-oriented-to-the-painful-extreme book. I kept anticipating a page turn to read "I sat down. I took in a breath. I let it out. I looked at the fingernail of my right index finger. It had been recently trimmed, I remembered, along with the other nine. I breathed in again. Oxygen swirled in my lungs like invisible shadows, darkness within darkness. I breathed out. Air surrounded me, and I realized my mother also had breathed air, at least until I killed her, so I breathed in again. And thought of my mother." Etc.

Unless you enjoy reading about mind-numbing details in a book where nothing much really happens except endless reporting of what one inexcusable character is thinking, don't bother.